No directly quoted material may be used in this project paper.
Final Project: Case Study: Police Department Consent Decree
Case Study: Police Department Consent Decree
You are assigned to the Research and Development Unit of the Virtual Police Department. The Unit Director asked you to prepare a presentation for the Chief on U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decrees and agreements. It seems one of the Chief’s close professional colleagues is now subject to such an agreement. The Chief wants to be sure he has done everything possible to avoid finding the Virtual Police Department in a similar predicament. The format of the presentation is quite simple. Using a selected city that is currently under (or recently been under) a DOJ consent decree/agreement as reference, provide the Chief with direction on how to avoid being subject to DOJ oversight.
Review the document, “Addressing Police Misconduct Laws Enforced by the Department of Justice
Link : /content/enforced/145914-001420-01-2165-OL1-6380/Police Misconduct Laws Enforced by DOJ.docx
or the same document using an alternate link
https://www.justice.gov/crt/addressing-police-misconduct-laws-enforced-department-justice
Select one of the following as your subject case study police department:
The Oakland (California) Police Department https://www.oaklandca.gov/resources/oakland-police-negotiated-settlement-agreement-nsa-reports and https://oaklandnorth.net/2011/12/20/twelve-years-after-the-riders-a-long-legal-process-is-reaching-its-final-stage/
The Baltimore (Maryland) Police Department https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-reaches-agreement-city-baltimore-reform-police-department-s
Research: Starting with the link provided, continue your research on the basis for and actions attentive to the subject consent decree/agreement, Review all of the pertinent documents, articles, websites, etc. until you feel you have a thorough understanding sufficient to respond to the Assignment questions.
Assignment
Briefly describe the situation(s) and/or event(s) that led up to DOJ oversight in the form of a consent decree/agreement (no more than 20% of the paper)
Briefly discuss the provisions of the consent decree. What actions is the department required to take? What changes is the department required to make? (no more than 20% of the paper)
Connect the provisions of the consent decree to the initiating causes.
Describe in detail what the Virtual Police Department needs to do in order to avoid following in the footsteps of the subject police department or otherwise find itself subject to DOJ oversight in he form of a consent decree (no less than 40% of the paper)
Format Requirements
Paper must be double spaced, 12 pt font and 1” margins all around.
All APA 7th edition format requirements must be followed (cover page, in text citations, reference page). Refer to APA/UMGC – learning resources found in the content page of this course.
You must have resources to support your thoughts/opinions/information. These must be cited both in text as well as at the end of the document. Your paper should not contain direct quotes, sourced material must be paraphrased.
Additional Notes:
Make sure you use the terminology correctly. It undermines your credibility as an “expert” when you misuse the terms of art of your career field. Imagine listening to a Monday Night Football announcer talking about the great homerun the team just scored, despite the fact that the Ref should have called a penalty for icing.
When you are working on the paper, keep the following in mind:
First, pick one of the three consent decrees. It doesn’t matter which one. Read the decree and the supporting documents so you understand why the consent decree was reached and why it contains specific provisions.
In the paper, you first must explain what a consent decree is, and that VPD wants to avoid being forced into a decree. Note that the definition of a consent decree should not only be one specifically tailored to this type of decree, but must also be supported by the appropriate reference and in text citation.
Next, explain what caused the consent decree in your particular choice. For example, Baltimore’s trigger incident was the death of Freddie Gray, while Oakland’s was the discovery of the “Riders.” Keep in mind that the documents will also explain how this kind of behavior has gone on, in some fashion, for years. I am certain that the “rough ride” that Mr. Gray was unjustly subject to was far from the first rough ride in Baltimore.
The consent decree has specific provisions. While they are all important, discuss how the most important provisions are tied to the underlying events that led to the consent decree. For example, one of the (less important) provisions in the Baltimore decree is that the department must keep better records on officers and their disciplinary and personal histories. This is needed because the lack of proper record keeping was one of the reasons that some of the officers were able to avoid significant discipline and other early warning signs of potential issues with the officers were ignored or lost.
Next, explain what VPD can do to avoid being subject to a consent decree. This is “big picture,” so don’t get lost in the minutia of policy. So, if you recommend that VPD review it’s Use of Force policy, you do not need to explain every part of VPD’s current policy, or exactly what a revised policy should say. Rather, while not the only issue, you should mention that VPD’s Use of Force policy should emphasize de-escalation, using the minimum amount of force, as well as the preservation of human life.
All these should be supported with appropriate references from the consent decree materials, as well as at least three different outside resources. Remember, resources must be paraphrased into your own words.
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